well i see that part of it but if we do get bad service or experiences we cant post that here but at the same time i do think a customer wants a decent deal or price. I for one would never buy parts from ebay but at the same time i dont wanna get taken for a ride by vendor.

 

I urge you to take the time to go to the service and review section and read the sticky which contains the rules outlining how to leave a negative review. Its actually very simple and requires a member to contact the vendor about the circumstance. Have you any idea how many negative threads would be left about both other members and vendors if evom allowed a free for all in the review section? A large % of threads would be from members that had not even had the decency to CONTACT THE SELLER and LET THEM KNOW THERE WAS AN ISSUE.

The rules are there to encourage communication allowing members and vendors to act as adults and work together as the first step in resolution.

The rules are well thought out from their tenured experience running the forums and they serve best both the members and vendors.

 

good to know but still didnt answer my question thanks

 

There was no question.

 

because all of the vendors on here including myself would be violating MAP (minimum advertised price) if we posted prices

 

Which ones???

Rotas don't count

Certain Rays/Gramlights wheels have different pricing structure as well.

 

There was no question. All vendors are in this to make money to make a living.

However, I can tell you this.. (since I was in this industry before)

On avg, a vendor will be happy if they make 10-20% on top of their cost after monthly credit card fees and shipping fees. But with the fierce competition of the Internet price gouging, they hardly make anything on top of their cost when its all said and done. Thats why there are a lot of smaller shops struggling right at this moment., especially during the transition of newer model cars..

And there's no such thing as free shipping.

When vendor says "free shipping", it means the shipping fees have already included in the pricing. Why would FedEx, UPS and Baxglobal, etc ship stuff for free?

 

JMF has MAP, and even an outlined policy how infractions are enforced.
And its not 10, or 20% off MSRP either.

Its 5%.

Apex'i is one of the more serious companies as far as how they handle their product being advertised. As mentioned earlier, they DO check, they DO care, and WILL seek action if you are in violation.

In accordance ALOT of smaller companies are following suit. As more and more products become available from a wider and at times smaller manufacturer(s)... they NEED to keep their prices up. Its not an option, its not gouging, its about keeping the lights on. This is the one truth NO customer wants to hear.

We all want eBay prices on name brand parts. But why do we want name brand parts in the first place? THEY ARE BETTER. 9/10 you get what you pay for. Without these people testing, fabricating, and doing the necessary legwork to make good products you have nothing. Even the knock offs go away as they have nothing to copy. This work costs money.

So MAP plays a role in maintaining the "value" of their products to help ensure their future. It may SEEM stupid, but its not. If vendor A advertises part for $50 and vendor B does for $40... then vendor C goes $35. Vendor A complains they need better pricing because they can't compete with vendor C, and they've been buying for X years... and so on... and so on. This same manufacturer then loses the capital required to keep punching out products you like. Or advertising, or testing their goods in motorsports arenas.

But if they say, woah... you can't DO that vendor C. MSRP is $50. You can go as low as $45. This downward slide is cut off before it begins.

And you would think it would be more about big companies maintaining their image. In actuality it is FAR more important for small companies to do this. A downward slide can make or break it in a much shorter time span and scale. Which is why more and more small companies in the automotive industry are adopting these policies.

In the end you are paying for your modding future. It is the only way I can try to spin it logically to get past the wall in everyone's mind that everything they want would be better if they didn't have to pay for it. If you don't pay, there will be no more things you want available. They won't exist.

And for those of you with the perception its shady, vendors are trying to rip you off.

Please show me where my room full of $100 bills is located so I can roll around naked in it.
I haven't seemed to have located it yet.

Its just not what is going on. It stabilizes the playing field a bit. Not everyone gets the best pricing on every product, but without the oppurtunity to sell it, (quantities of it too mind you) they will never get the pricing to be competitive.

So clear your PM boxes and bare with us.
We are here to get you all the toys you have to have.

Try to understand we all have limitations, but we are here for you.

 

Why don't I buy in to your reasoning ? Because I have never seen this kind of thing anywhere else, and being (as I wrote) a retailer, I find it hard to believe that this particular market is so much more strict than any other. On top of that, when these types of policies are in place, they cover EVERY type of advertising. If you can't post it on here, you certainly can't post it on your own website either. Wholesalers (manufacturing co's) usually don't have a "MAP" policy, and that's it. They will usually have a minimum stocking policy long before they come up a MAP. A lot of these "Companies" advertising "prices too low to list" don't even have the product(s) in stock they're advertising "On Sale". That alone tells me these Wholesaler/Manufacturing Co's don't require a whole lot from a "Dealer" to sell their stuff

I'm not saying you don't adhere to some "MAP" I don't know you, or have ever done business with you. Maybe you do.. I don't for minute believe that it's the reason behind the majority of these posts (ads), however
Why does it matter? It matters because it deals with the integrity of those who ask you to give them money up front, and trust them to send you goods later.
It's pertinent. IMO, if you're gonna actually blow something out, post up the price.
It's quite easy for another vendor to PM for pricing. If they want to undercut you, they can do it right now without getting winded.
In the passed week, I've personally had a couple of bad experiences with buying items from vendors on here, and I've also had a couple of good experiences. The one thing in common with both sides, is they were either honest in their ad(s), or they weren't. That's what got me thinking

 

Once again, you're asking me to believe that all the products advertised on here, or even just the majority, have such a policy with "advertising" them. When researching this, I went to several of these "Dealers" websites, and the prices were posted in plain site. A "MAP" covers ALL advertising. Not just on certain websites. To be frank, that line doesn't hold water.

 

You apparently didn't read this:
What you're failing to explain, and actually contradict is all the vendor "Ads" that state in various ways "Lowest Prices Ever". If you guys aren't selling based on price, why do you advertise that you are?
The mindset on here (once again IMO) is short term. Someone in it for the long haul won't mire themselves down in this kind of verbage. They'll do what I wrote, do it the right way, and reap the benefit(s) in the long run.

 

It's the customer that's creating this enviornment? Go look in the "Vendor" for sale ads. You guys are the ones blasting all the "Lowest Prices Ever"crapola. The problem as I see it, is it's not being backed up, and in turn, will blanket all vendors on here with a bad image. As far as vendors undercutting each other to death. Well, that won't last for long. If you read what I wrote earlier, you'd see that this fact is what give me the impression that this market is new, and a lot of the "settling" has yet to be done. It's entirely up to you the vendor, what you sell your product(s) for. It's also up to you how truthful you're going to be in your advertsing. I saw an ad yesterday asking the customer to "Name your own price" on wheels. Well, I called the vendor and guess what? I didn't get to name my own price, and was quoted the same amount or more than what I can buy that product for anywhere. I know this, because I'm in the market for this particular product, and I've done research. So you're asking me to believe that the customer created this enviormnent?

 

You're a genious "fastkevin"!! You've figured us out!

 

Let me start off by saying I'm clearly in no way a vendor of any kind. Lets keep it civil people. Any decent, honest vendor on here has probably gone through a lot to establish themselves as a business (with or without an actual shop) and put their livelihood on here. And in many cases the life quality of their families. If you ask me, as long as they're not harming anyone, they can do whatever the hell they damn well please. If they want to post the prices all over the place for everyone to see, great. If they only want to share via pm.... my hands are not going to fall off from typing a simple pm to ask for prices. Besides, as a buyer, i take it upon myself to research and find the best product and price for myself. It's my money I'm spending, so it should be my responsibility to insure I do so wisely.
Case in point, not that long ago, I did a ton of research on here and through the internet (which btw, anyone can easily get an idea of what these prices should be before pm'ing) for a part I really wanted for my car. After said research, I pm'ed DriveLineSales and yes, believe or not, even though it was through pm, they actually DID provide me with some of the best pricing out there. I completed my purchase without any problems and i couldn't be happier.

Come on people, it's their purgative. MAP policy or not, if they don't want to post it, who gives a ****?! Seriously!

 

No Kevin I'm not. I'm a cusomer too. I wasn't always a vendor, and you WILL not see me falling into that crappy car salesman verbage BS in things I post for sale. I post brand, item, PM for price. Or I want these gone (meaning I will do better than I typically would) And thats about it. I'll say free shipping. THIS IS WHAT I HAVE IN STOCK. READY TO GO. And when I say it, I MEAN it. Its not a customer created world, any more than it is a vendor created one.

There are constantly new vendors popping up, and new customers. Its a chaotic ball. As far as settling, this both benefits you, and hurts you. If there were say half the vendors around ... and all fairly established. Pricing would not fluctuate as it does now. They'd all get on the phone and say look... widget A is going to cost $400. If we all do this, we all make full buck. And let their established reputations bring the customer to each. Kinda like car insurance.

But this market is far more chaotic, and changing rapidly. Some come, some go. And its all happening constantly. This is an evolving market, and one that has exploded over the last decade.

I understand your gripes about how things are. I suggest you find a vendor that will communicate with you about what you need. Find one you can get along with and see it thru its course. Don't go buy from vendor B because he's $3.25 cheaper this week. I do what I can for anyone that buys from me, but come on? There are guys that buy everything from me. Even when I'm a couple bucks higher on one or two items because thru the course they know I'll make it up somewhere else.

You have to understand everyone can preach bend over backwards for everyone all they want. But the guy that religiously buys from you. And the guy that beats you up on price and then complains all the time are on two very different planes of existence when it comes to the 4.2 seconds of free time I have a day.


In the end its a moot point. It is the way it is, and there are reasons for it.

Find a vendor that can do more than sell you part A for X$. And you won't be angry any more.